Tepache

By Evan Saxton, on March 11th, 2012

Tepache vendor

For the introductory bebida on this blog, I decided to make tepache. Tepache (teh-PAH-che) is a popular fermented beverage in Mexico using raw brown sugar (piloncillo), pineapple rinds and spices. Tepache existed in pre-Columbian times, and only became more popular upon the arrival of the Spanish. This blog post suggests that the Spanish brewed tepache as a replacement for their beloved apple cider, using New World ingredients they had available to them upon arrival; cane sugar and pineapple. I can imagine they also loved it due to the fact that it is mildly alcoholic; approximately 3-5% ABV, by my guess. It also has the added bonus of being exceedingly easy to make, and delicious to boot.

Because of tepache’s popularity, there are countless recipes available online. Some call for the addition of beer part way, presumably to speed fermentation. Some call for varying amounts of sugar (anywhere between 0 and 700g per liter). I waded through a number of recipes, and settled on one that seemed to work for me, sourced in part from LorenaLara144’s YouTube recipe (Spanish).

Ingredients:

the skin from one pineapple (with a little meat, enough to get the eyes)

Dissolve sugar in 4 quarts of water. If using Mexican piloncillo cones, dissolve over heat, and cool to <100º F. If using brown sugar, stir until fully dissolved.

Rinse and/or gently scrub pineapple in mildly warm water to remove any caked dirt or debris. The yeast that does the fermentation in this recipe live on the skin of the pineapple, and you don’t want to kill or remove it. (NOTE: If you are (rightfully) concerned about pesticides, I read here that Mexican pineapples use very little pesticides during cultivation, vs. their Hawaiian counterparts)

Cut the skin from the pineapple, making sure to include a bit of the flesh (flavor and sugar). Cutting deep enough to remove the eyes leaves enough meat on the skin, and saves work when prepping pineapple flesh for eating. Add to corrosive-proof container (I used food-grade plastic. Glazed ceramic is traditional. Avoid metal.)

Cover container with a towel and leave to ferment for 3-7 days. My first attempt required 6 days.

Several sources advised that you “don’t peek” until day 3. I failed, and peeked on day 2. The pineapple that was floating toward the top had developed a white fuzzy mold, which I was afraid would spread. I retrieved the effected pieces, cut the moldy bits off and returned them to the container. I then placed a bowl wide enough to submerge the pineapple below the surface. This prevented any further mold from appearing, but a white sludge did appear to grow on the top. On day 4, I skimmed this off (if you’ve made fermented pickles, you are familiar with this process) before reading that this is unnecessary. The white bacteria is to be expected and you should not be alarmed.

I peeked on day 5 to see how the progress was going, and found a VERY vigorous fermentation. When I poked my nose in, this is what I found.

Once the fermentation had slowed on day 6, the white sludge was gone, and what remained was a foam similar to the yeasty foam that gathers at the surface of fermented apple cider. I poured the tepache through a funnel into a gallon milk jug, taking care to remove the spices and pineapple rind, and not collecting the must that had settled at the bottom, and placed the jug in the refrigerator.

Serve the tepache over ice, with a squeeze of lime, and a dash of chile powder if you’d like. Traditionally a pinch of baking soda is sprinkled over the ice before adding the lemon and tepache to introduce some carbonation.

NOTE: If you would like to have pineapple vinegar, simply leave this to ferment for an additional week, covered with a towel at room temperature. Once fermentation has completed, simply place the vinegar in a bottle and use in recipes that call for any flavorful vinegar (ie. sherry vinegar or apple cider vinegar).

5 comments to Tepache

I transferred to a sterile plastic gallon milk jug as a secondary fermenter (removed fruit chunks, etc.).
Unfortunately I forgot about it for a few weeks. It’s carbonated, but a bit stinky. I drank some, it’s not vinegar, but not really tasty either. Might be destined for the compost pile. Upside is I’m only out $1.60 for the piloncillo, as we get mex. pineapple from the weekly CSA.

Oh, bummer!
I discovered that it gets a little dry, but I didn’t get anything stinky. If it doesn’t have an off taste (aka bad), I’d just leave it at room temperature and use it for vinegar. Your instincts can guide you to that decision, surprisingly.

I’ve had my jar fermenting very slowly for 2 days. some say, don’t move the jar during fermentation. Some say, swirl it around to hasten it. Who is right? All replies appreciated. Vince You can also email me at vincent05@sbcglobal.net

Is a traditional beverage at home, we make it very simple in 2 or3 days, just pineapple, water, and piloncillo (sugar instead). Wash the pineapple, cut the skin and put them into a jar covered with a fabric or something that allows it “breath” but not allow the entrance of mosquitos or insects…/(according the place you live) Not necessary to swirl. Once there, you can add the piloncillo or sugar in this moment or at the end….wait for 2 days, you can put the jar in a dry place in the kitchen. after those days, take out the pineapple skins and strain the liquid to clean the little pieces left, you can add in this moment sugar or ice, or just put it in the fridge before serve it,

I haven´t drunk it with lime or spices or soda… just plain is fresh and tasty, not many days necessary for fermentation….

So I made a batch but, made it using a recipe that required me to bring pineapple and water to boil, I let mix cool ib plastic container and added piloncillo, cinnamon, cloves and allow mix to sit covered with cheesecloth for 2 day. I then put mix into fridge including rind and all for weeks, oops forgot about it, and now straiNed mix and it smells like varnish. Did I do something wrong? My f2f says I made wood alcohol which leads to blindness and botulism. I’m thinking it should not have been in a plastic container fermenting bc it smells like a plastic container that has been sitting in a car for days. Suggestions? comments?